To remove back boiler or not

elainem

Registered User
Messages
611
Hi! Can anyone tell me whether it is better to remove back boiler or not. Bought a 1965 ex council house. Piping to back boiler is new. Heating is currently oil. Was informed that if I got gas heating installed I would have to get rid of back boiler. Unwilling to do this, as country girl at heart, and like the open fire, and the fact that it has the potential to heat radiators/water. Had considered getting Stanley stove installed in fireplace as well. Question: Should I keep back boiler? Can I get gas heating installed with a back boiler in situ? Is it worth conertingn from oil to gas heating? Thanks. Elainem.
 
I have a seven year old house in which we have both a back boiler and gas fired central heating. You will need to shop around for a plumber but it can be done and in my opinion , you should keep your back boiler as it is in already.
 
Hi! Can anyone tell me whether it is better to remove back boiler or not. Bought a 1965 ex council house. Piping to back boiler is new. Heating is currently oil. Was informed that if I got gas heating installed I would have to get rid of back boiler. Unwilling to do this, as country girl at heart, and like the open fire, and the fact that it has the potential to heat radiators/water. Had considered getting Stanley stove installed in fireplace as well. Question: Should I keep back boiler? Can I get gas heating installed with a back boiler in situ? Is it worth conertingn from oil to gas heating? Thanks. Elainem.

Who ever informed you were wrong. I have noticed in the past 12 months how popular soild fuel has become due to the uncertain price of gas/oil.We seem to fit alot of soild fuel stoves/backboilers and even removing gas fires so solid fuel fires can be lit. I would hold on to your backboiler if I were you.

A lot of modern gas boilers only work on pressurised systems and pressurised systems aren't suitable for solid fuel because you can't regulate temperture from a nuturally burning fire. What you need is an open vented gas boiler as this would work along with your back boiler. speak to a different plumber to get the right advice
 
Get rid of the back boiler, not because of the gas heating but because it is an awfully bad system. With a bb, most of the heat from the fire goes up the chimney, and a bb will not heat your water all that well. I am a country lad and like an open fire. I got rid of the bb a few years back and it made a huge difference in the amount of hear the fire threw into the room afterwards.
 
I got rid of the bb a few years back and it made a huge difference in the amount of hear the fire threw into the room afterwards.
Well, this is to be expected - no boiler means more output to the room - as heat is not being carried away to the rads.
BlueSpud is right about most of the heat going up the chimney. Best thing you could do is get a stove with boiler and replace current back boiler and open fire. You already have plumbing in place so your lucky.

The stove increases efficency from 30% to 70%+ - so no more heat going up the chimney.
 
I know you 'can' fit a back boiler and gas boiler on the one system, but if you mix the system waters you will VOID THE WARRANTY of you shiny new gas boiler!

You back boiler can be decommissioned and left in situ as long as the plumber bypasses the pipework and FULLY decommissions the back boiler by draining it and drill holes in the bottom of it (as per s recent BG saftey alert!)
 
I know you 'can' fit a back boiler and gas boiler on the one system, but if you mix the system waters you will VOID THE WARRANTY of you shiny new gas boiler!

You back boiler can be decommissioned and left in situ as long as the plumber bypasses the pipework and FULLY decommissions the back boiler by draining it and drill holes in the bottom of it (as per s recent BG saftey alert!)


Boiler makers say thier warrenties are void if you look at your boiler the wrong way. If your system is treated right and designed right there will be no adverse effect on the seemly fragile gas boilers.

You can also just have the back boiler/stove heating hot water only, open vented system ofcourse and keep the gas boiler on a sealed system for hot water and radiators.
 
My plumber disconnected my back boiler last year when I asked for his advice on the matter. He wasn't a fan of them at all. I really and truly can't believe how hot the fire now is. The sitting room was never roasting before and I had constant coal fires, now I can barely sit in front of the fire with just sticks. You use a lot of fuel heating the water and as for the rads, they fire had to be lighting for hours in order to get them nice and toasty. I would disconnect the back boiler and give the heat back in to your room.
 
Back
Top